Four decades ago, officials from countries around the world signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), pledging to bring the spread of those weapons to a halt. The treaty also pledged the signatories that possessed said weapons at the time—such as the United States—to get rid of their nuclear arms.
This is the kind of human error story that makes a strong case for worldwide nuclear disarmament: Armytimes.com reported Wednesday that five nuclear warheads were mistakenly carried on a B-52 bomber from North Dakota to Louisiana on Aug. 30—which means they were effectively missing for more than three hours.